The Best Laid Plans
by thomthom830
Summary: It's been 5 years since Bruce & Selina have left Gotham. They've settled into the next phase of their lives, but can they ever really be done with Gotham?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Here is what happens next for my Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. Let me know what you think!

Please make sure you read my previous stories if you want to know what happened before this!

And as always, please leave me some feedback!

The Best Laid Plans

One

The melodic sounds of laughter drifted up to him and it made him smile. He was sitting on the back porch, reading, while his wife and daughter played in the nearly life-sized playhouse.

His wife popped out the playhouse's front door a few moments later and strolled up to him.

"Mr. Wayne, I am here to cordially invite you to Lady Amelia's afternoon tea, taking place momentarily," Selina said as she joined Bruce on the porch.

"Do I need to bring a dish to pass?" Bruce asked seriously. "Should I change my clothes?"

Selina smirked back at her husband. "She's very prepared. But money is always a great go-to gift."

"I'll make another contribution to her college fund," Bruce replied.

The small girl stepped out onto the playhouse's small porch and crossed her arms and stamped her foot.

"Daddy! Mommy! Come! On!" the small child shouted up to them.

"She gets that from you," they said at the same time to one another before walking towards the playhouse and little girl.

Five years ago, they'd left Gotham. Selina finished her pregnancy in the comfort of the home they'd built in Italy. It wasn't always sunshine and rainbows but the lives of Selina and Bruce Wayne had greatly improved since their daughter was born. They had the little family that they'd always wanted.

It had been an amazing surprise when Selina was five months pregnant when they found out Selina was carrying a girl. At six months, it was back to being a boy. At seven months, they weren't sure at all because they couldn't get a good angle. Baby Wayne was shy and the husband and wife decided that they were going to quit worrying about it. Six days before her due date, Selina and Bruce welcomed Amelia Martha Wayne into their world.

The now-nearly five year old child was bright and sassy and had no idea that her dad and mom were former criminals and crime fighters. She spoke three languages, but had no clue that Gotham City even existed on the other side of the world. Bruce and Selina had decided before she was born that the child could know about their pasts when she was an adult and could fully understand. Until then, she would life as normal of a life as they could make it and they refused to feel sorry for that.

After putting her to bed, Selina was washing the dishes from the day and stacking them in the drying rack next to the sink. Bruce joined her in the kitchen and smirked at her.

"What's that look for?" Selina asked.

"I have to tell you something," Bruce replied seriously.

"What's that?" she purred.

"Your daughter…she makes better tea than you do," he said as straight-faced as possible.

"You're such an idiot," she laughed as she playfully shoved him in the shoulder. "That actually works out great, because I hate making you your tea."

"I love you," Bruce said, leaning to kiss her.

"This is awkward," she said after the kiss. "Because I hate you."

"Aw, thanks," he smiled. "You know, sometimes I have to stop and pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming."

Selina turned away and continued to wash dishes and Bruce followed suit to dry them.

"You are such a sap."

"Are you going to still love me when I'm old and grey?"

"You're already old and grey and it hasn't stopped me yet. And maybe I'll like you drooling over me," Selina said.

Bruce winked at her.

"So, museum and dinner with Alfred on Friday after he gets back tomorrow, yes?" Selina asked. "I can't believe it's been so long since he'd left for this trip."

"Alfred always wanted to travel again and see the rest of the world," Bruce said. "Frankly, I'm surprised he's home as much as he is."

"That's fantastic. But I miss him and I'd like our friend and neighbor back," Selina said. "I'm selfish and I don't care. Sue me."

"I wouldn't dare, Mrs. Wayne."

"It's weird. I thought eventually I would hate being called Mrs. Wayne, but I've come to find it…nice."

"Nice?" Bruce asked. "Just…nice?"

"Well, you – you make it sound sexy," Selina said, realizing what she'd just admitted. She'd seen his eyes darken. "Oh, no. Our child isn't even asleep yet."

"Mrs. Wayne," he growled in her ear, causing goosebumps all over her body. "You're so beautiful," he said as he looked at her.

Selina giggled, unable to control the sound escaping her lips. "What's gotten into you tonight, Mr. Wayne? I'm not saying it isn't great, but maybe we shouldn't be doing it in the kitchen. Mel could just…" Selina trailed off while Bruce kissed her neck and her phone buzzed on the counter.

A half of a second later, Bruce's phone chimed.

"C'mon. Let's go upstairs," he growled, his eyes totally dark now. It was evident he didn't care at all who was messaging them.

"But, it could be Alfred."

Bruce tapped the phone. It showed up as a text from an unknown number.

"Not Alfred. Alfred would use the signal."

"Unless he can't," Selina said. "Could you lease hand me my phone? I'd feel so much better about ignoring the dishes and having sex with you if I knew it was just an email from the Gap or something."

"Fine," Bruce finally surrendered. He reached out to retrieve Selina's phone and passed it to her. She unlocked it and read the message from the unknown number. She went immediately pale.

Half an hour later, Bruce had disappeared to go charter a flight back to Gotham while Selina was contacting Alfred.

"He's down in the cave," Selina said quietly. It was a mostly unused shell of what it used to be as Bruce rarely felt the pull to go down there and turn into the reclusive Batman. In fact, Selina couldn't even remember the last time she'd had to pry him away from those computers. "He's going to get onto a flight to Gotham as soon as he can."

"I'll see if I can get on an earlier flight, Selina, and then you can go with Bruce and Miss Amelia and I can stay in Italy."

"No. I really think you should meet Bruce in Gotham. Fly there instead. I'll be fine with Mel here. You and Bruce know Lucius the best. The two of you should be there. I do insist."

"I'm sure Bruce…"

"No. He told me he was going alone. He doesn't want me to go with him. And you know I don't like him telling me what to do, but I'm going to stay to look after Amelia. I know Blake'll be there, but I'd really appreciate you going, too," Selina said.

"Of course, Selina. I'll get right on it. Did the doctor's say much about Lucius' condition?" Alfred asked quietly.

"Blake said that it's touch and go; they don't expect that he'll make it til next week. It was a heart attack that caused him to drive off the road and the accident caused him some significant brain damage. He came out of the coma after twelve hours, but he's in the ICU and they don't expect that he'll leave," Selina explained. "Bruce got real quiet when he read Blake's message. Too quiet."

"He'll be all right, Selina," Alfred said reassuringly. "We will make sure he will be all right."

"Thank you, Alfred."

The last five years, they'd been living in a bubble. Sure, they'd heard that Harley Quinn had been broken out of the maximum security prison and that it was the Joker that had done it. The dead Joker. But it didn't matter. Bruce had hung up his cape and cowl and he was a different person now with different priorities. But the bubble popped when he got the message from Blake.

Lucius mean the world to Bruce. He and Alfred were father-figures to him as well as much of the brains behind Wayne Enterprises and Batman. And Bruce had felt totally secure leaving Wayne Enterprises in Lucius' very capable hands.

But now he was losing a father and the man helming Wayne Enterprises. Even if Lucius made a full recovery, which was unlikely, Bruce would never ask him to run the company. So while he was preparing himself to mourn the loss of his mentor and friend, he was also trying to come up with a plan for Wayne Enterprises.

"You aren't going to fight me to go?" Bruce asked.

"I will if you _really_ want me to. But you have a bunch of other things you're worrying about right now, so I'll let this one go. Besides, I despise Gotham and sometimes wish we'd let what's-her-face and Bane blow it all sky high," she told him.

"You're amazing, you know?" Bruce said heavily.

"When do you leave?"

"Flight's at midnight."

"Midnight tonight? In two hours?"

He nodded as he packed. "Not ideal, but I have to get there."

"I know," she replied. "I'll go wake Amelia," she said.

Bruce opened his mouth to speak but Selina cut him off.

"No protests. You _will_ say goodbye to your daughter before you leave on this trip. And, Alfred is going to meet you in Gotham. He is rearranging his flights as we speak."

"Selina…"

"What? You thought I wouldn't tell Alfred? And then when he gets back from New Zealand, I just tell him about Lucius and you going back to Gotham like it's nothing? You don't have to do this alone. I know you _can,_ but you don't need to. So, Alfred is going to do with you. Lucius needs you both."

Bruce signed heavily. His shoulders were rounded and slumped and he looked as haggard as though the last five years hadn't even happened. He was back to the exhausted Bruce Wayne that was created in Gotham.

It broke Selina's heart.

"Thank you, Selina," he said.

"Finish packing," she replied. "I'll go get Mel." 

Bruce was gone shortly thereafter. Amelia was still half-asleep when Bruce kissed the both of then goodbye and Selina was trying not to cry. She passed a note to Bruce, to give to Lucius, or to be read to him if he could not on his own before he left. Once he left, Selina brought Mel into bed with her.

Amelia was conked out, but Selina could not sleep. She felt so selfish because she was mad that Bruce had to leave them. But Bruce didn't belong in Gotham anymore and she knew going back would open old wounds and stir up old memories. And Lucius being ill meant he was losing someone so important to himself and so integral to Wayne Enterprises. She could not help but wonder what that mean for their lives. Would they move back to Gotham?

Selina finally fell into a fitful sleep a couple hours later – once she'd finished crying for Lucius' health and the future of their family and for feeling so terrible for worrying about herself instead of Lucius.

…

Author's note: so what do you think of my first chapter back with Selina and Bruce?

Let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He was angry. At the world and himself. He was pretending that he didn't need to deal with Wayne Enterprises. He was kidding himself because he really knew that Lucius would not want to be CEO of a company forever. Bruce knew the man would need and want to retire. But now Bruce had no plan. Well, the only plan was that he would need to resume his position as CEO of Wayne Enterprises while attempting to make sure Lucius Fox was as comfortable as possible in his final days.

Bruce had booked the most unassuming vehicle as he could, nothing flashy that would get him recognized. It wasn't even the Joker or Harley that he was worried about; he didn't need a mob of people, even though it was still early in the morning in Gotham.

He dialed Selina as he drove and she picked up after the first ring.

"Hi sweetheart. How are you doing?" Bruce asked as cheerfully as he could. It was exhausting.

"We'd be better if you were home," Selina said. "But we are making do," Selina said.

"Hi Daddy!" Amelia popped up.

"How's my girl?" he asked.

"I'm okay. Mommy's sad. Where are you and when will you be back?" she asked.

Bruce paused. "I'm on a business trip for work. And I'm here to see a friend that's sick. I'll be home soon. You'll take care of your mommy til then, right? For me?"

"Yup! Bye!" she said before bounding away.

"Selina?" Bruce asked quietly.

"She's in the other room building big tall skyscrapers. Seems like she takes after you."

"I don't know how long I'm going to be here." 

"I know that."

"And I don't know what I'm going to do with Wayne Enterprises. I never really came up with a back up plan," Bruce admitted.

"I know that, too," she nodded. "We'll figure it out. Just like we always do. You worry about Lucius Fox first. Are you going to the hospital first?"

"I'm about a mile away. I want him to know I'm here before I check into my hotel," he said.

There was a moment of total silence before the both of them spoke.

"I love you."

"You take care of yourself and Lucius, Bruce. I'll take care on this end. And if we need to move to Goth…"

"Don't say that."

"I'd do anything for you, Bruce Wayne. Even move my daughter to the cesspool that is Gotham City. We will do what we need to do, okay? Just don't forget about us out here, all right?"

"Never. Never ever, Selina," Bruce said. "Maybe I could run the company from Italy."

"Don't worry about Wayne Enterprises right now, please," Selina said. "Just go check on Lucius."

"As much as I would like to do just that, I have a lot on my mind. You and Mel and…"

"Then _don't_ worry about us. You _know _we are fine. And it sucks so much that Lucius is sick, but you know can do anything. One food in front of the other. Just the one step at a time."

"Thank you," he said simply. "Love you."

"Love you, too. Keep me posted, Mr. Wayne. And give my love to Lucius," she asked.

"Of course," Bruce replied.

They disconnected the call and Selina slumped against the kitchen counter. The coffee she'd had an entire pot of hadn't even been able to really give her the pep she'd wanted.

Amelia's life needed to continue on as normally as possible and Selina was committed to making that happen. Today they were going to see the school Amelia would be attending in a few weeks and tomorrow, they were still going to visit the museum.

"Mom!" he child shrieked from the next room and the coffee cup Selina held crashed into a million pieces on the tiled floor. Selina sprinted around the shards and found that her daughter's terrified scream was caused by the fact that she'd pinched her finger in the toy box. Selina was going to need to get her nerves in order if this was all going to work out the right way.

She got her daughter's finger cleaned up and put a superhero band aid on it and Amelia happily continued to play with her blocks and other toys. Selina moved back into the kitchen to clean up her mess.

Bruce Wayne had been to the Gotham City hospital – old and new – more times than he could ever count. So he was very familiar with all of the ins and outs of the building – specifically an entrance where he would cause the smallest scene. Just because he didn't give two shits about the Joker or Harley anymore did not mean he wanted everyone in town to know he was there.

Bruce made a quick stop at the nurse's station to find Lucius' room number and then made his way down the thankfully deserted corridor.

He was barely in the room when he heard a familiar voice.

"You made good time," Blake said from the chair in the corner.

"You look like shit, Blake," Bruce said.

"Gee, thanks. I could say the same to you, man," Blake replied. "I'm hoping this look is a recent development. I'm glad you're here, Bruce. He's been asking about you and Selina and Amelia. And Alfred. But mostly you."

"Thank you for letting us know," Bruce said to Blake while studying Lucius' face.

Lucius looked small as he lay in the hospital bed. But Bruce knew it was just the effect of the space. Lucius, anywhere else, filled the room with his personality and intellect.

"I should have been here," Bruce said quietly.

"No. You were exactly where you were supposed to be. This – this wasn't caused by a criminal or you not being here. This is just what happens when we get older," Blake said. "Lucius would always have wanted you to live your life – and he is so damn proud of you for finally getting to do just that."

"Yeah."

"Where are Selina and Amelia?" Blake asked.

"Home," Bruce said. "Home – home. Italy," he clarified.

Blake was quiet.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"I am just surprised that you are here without her. And your daughter."

"It isn't safe to bring Amelia here. She doesn't know anything about Gotham and I would like to keep it that way."

"She's how old now?"

"Almost five," Bruce said. "And I would really, really like it if she didn't ever experience what I did when I was child," he added.

"So there's no chance I'm going to get a night of while you're in town?"

"Not so long as you're Nightwing, man," Bruce said. "Unless all the criminals in Gotham changed their ways."

"Are you smiling? That's so weird," Blake replied.

"Can't an old man get any sleep – even in a hospital?" Lucius said from the other side of the room.

Bruce moved to his side at the bed.

"It's good to see you, Lucius. But if you wanted me to visit, you could have just asked. No need to go to all of this trouble," Bruce said.

"Still got that same smartass sense of humor," Lucius said.

"I guess I never grew out of it."

"It's nice to see you in a color besides black," Lucius said about Bruce's blue t-shirt.

"It's still my favorite color though. But a four year old asks a lot of questions about mom and dad always wearing black. And not always at the most appropriate times," he said.

"Four years old. I hope she's as obnoxious as you were at that age."

"Double the trouble since she's a lot like Selina as well. I am to send her your love. She's in Italy with Amelia," Bruce said.

"That's very sweet."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to grab something to drink. Do either of you…" Blake asked.

"Thank you, John. I'm fine, though," Lucius said.

Blake exited the room a moment later.

"I should never have left you with all that work, Lucius," Bruce said. "I ran away."

"No, no I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, for either of us. You deserve a life, Bruce Wayne. You sacrificed so much for so long to take care of a city that you refused to give up on, even when they gave up on you," Lucius said. "John has been here since it all happened. Stayed with me."

"Has anyone called your niece yet?" Bruce asked.

"Stacy is coming in a couple days. She had to get someone to watch the kids while her husband is cross country for work," Lucius said quietly.

"Okay, good."

"I'm glad you're here, Bruce. But you didn't…"

"Yes, I did. Now, you rest," Bruce said.

Lucius nodded tiredly and closed his eyes.

Bruce waited until he was totally certain of Lucius being asleep before pulling out a tablet and beginning to read through so many of the memos from Wayne Enterprises that he'd ignored for the last six months. He needed to re-familiarize himself with it all before going into the boarding meeting on Monday.

…

"So what happens to Wayne Enterprises when…you know…" Blake asked over breakfast later that morning.

"I have to get that figured out."

"Do you want to…"

"Come back to Gotham? Hell no, Blake. You and I both know I want to be done here. I'm sure you're ready to be done," Bruce replied.

Blake leaned back. "It's not so bad. Well, it wasn't until the Joker rumors and sightings started again. And that's who they thing broke Harley out of Belle Reve."

"It's cute that Waller really things she had all of them in her back pocket."

"It was nice while it lasted though. All of them were busy stopping stuff instead of making more trouble," Blake said. "Rumor has it Harley and the Joker have since broken up now though."

"How could you even tell?" Bruce asked. "He pushed her around all the time."

"She blew up Ace Chemicals. And then every mobster and criminal in town went after her. Somehow she blew up Roman Sionis, too."

"Pity."

"I know. Couldn't have happened to a nicer fella," Blake said. "Oh. And I heard she's got a pet hyena named Bruce now."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Fantastic. Because Gotham needs a hyena running around as well as two clowns and you know, whatever else. Where were you when Sionis was blown up?"

"Letting him be blown up. Guy was an asshole."

Bruce gave him a look.

"I know I don't have the moral high ground here, but the man was a blight and he was responsible for the deaths of almost fifty people in Gotham last month. I've decided to let that one slide."

"I see," Bruce said.

"Really? How do you do that? With just a look, you make me feel like I'm twelve and I'm in a hell of a lot of trouble?"

"It only works on you now. Both my wife and daughter are immune to it," Bruce replied in a flat voice.

"Sounds about right," Blake nodded. "You should get checked into your hotel and get some sleep. Besides, we got company."

Blake was motioning to the men that just walked in – definitely members of the news outlets in Gotham City.

"Definitely time to go," Bruce said.

They'd clocked him. Probably tipped off by someone in the diner.

Bruce put money down on the table that more than covered both their meals and the men stood to make a speedy exit from the building.

"Bruce Wayne! Bruce Wayne! Is it true your CEO is dying?"

"Wow," Blake said. "Back off," he started to push the reporter.

"Where are your wife and child?"

"Please move!" Bruce said plainly.

A moment later, Bruce had found the button on his phone and the cameras and devices died instantly.

"Gee, thanks, Wayne!"

…

Author's note: So what did you think? Let me know.

And please make sure you're taking care of yourselves. Be well.


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